INDONESIA will acquire BrahMos long-range cruise missile and Astra Mk1 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM) from India after an agreement was reached between Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Reportedly valued at US$630 million, the agreement was reached during the Indian prime minister’s visit to Indonesia in addition to a series of other agreements signed between the two leaders in Jakarta.
Manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace, the missiles are the result of a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya. It can be launched from land-based batteries, warships, submarines, and aircraft. Indonesia is the third foreign buyer of the missiles after the Philippines and possibly Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Astra missile produced by the state-run Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is expected to be integrated with the Indonesian Air Force’s (TNI-AU) fleet of Russian-produced Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft.–-shp/adj/dl (Pix:ADJ)
